In the first three weeks following the police taser death of
an unarmed epileptic Vermont man, fewer than 100 people signed an online
petition calling for a taser moratorium in the state, a call that had already
been rejected out of hand by Vermont's Democratic Governor, Peter Shumlin.

By the time the Rutland Herald
"broke" the story of the Kunin signing four days after the fact, the total stood
at 674. Kunin was #86 on
July 12. As this is written
there are 1074 signers, many of whom raise concern about what they see as
increased police violence, including several killings, in Vermont in recent
years. [see sample comments
below]

Public concern over police use of tasers became increasingly
widespread after June 20, when, at the end of a three-hour standoff, Vermont State
Police tasered MacAdam Mason in his dooryard and he died almost
immediately. Police and Taser
International take the position that there's no proof the taser "killed" Mason,
but they don't dispute the sequence of events: a trooper tasered Mason and he
never regained consciousness, finally being pronounced dead at a nearby
hospital.

Also undisputed is that Mason suffered a gran mal epileptic
seizure on June 19, one of many just this year that typically left him
disoriented and cranky. The day
after his seizure, the 39-year-old artist called a suicide hotline. No record of that call is yet
public. The hotline told police
that Mason was suicidal and threatening to harm others. His family disputes that and at no time
during the events leading up to his killing did he have a weapon.

Two Vermont State Troopers responded to the hotline call,
arriving after three in the afternoon at the house where Mason was living with
Theresa Davidonis, 51, and her children.
Eventually at least four troopers would be on the scene. When the first pair arrived, Mason was
inside the house, where he stayed, refusing to let them in. He talked to the troopers some, but
it's unclear what was said.

At some point, police called Ms Davidonis home from work with
a friend and when they arrived, the house was empty. Mason had slipped out of the house, unnoticed by police, and
was apparently hiding in nearby woods.
According to Davidonis, she

tried to explain Mason's condition to the police: that Mason
was an epileptic who'd had a recent seizure, that he was an artist, that he was
an alcoholic sober three years, that he was a gentle person normally, and that
he was unarmed. She assured them
there were no weapons on the premises.

Although police then called in a K-9 unit to help search for
Mason, Davidonis eventually persuaded the police to withdraw, dog and all. Soon after, Mason emerged from the woods. Davidonis says that she stayed with him
for about an hour, but that he was not especially communicative, that he was
angry about the cat litter box and angry at the police. Eventually she decided to leave him
alone, the same advice she'd given the police, to let him calm down on his own,
and she went back to work.

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Police Leave Mason Alone, Then Come Back

Once she was gone, the police returned. They called Davidonis again,
about 15 minutes after she'd left.
This time she returned with her son Aleks, 25. She argued with the officer in charge about leaving Mason
alone and she recalls the officer saying, "We can't just leave him out
there." But police prevented
family members from approaching Mason to try to calm him down.

While Davidonis and the officer were still talking, two other
troopers had been facing Mason, one with a gun pointed at him. That trooper decided the gun was
unnecessary and switched to his taser, ordering Mason to get down on the ground
so he could be taken in. Hearing
the officer's shouted commands, Davidonis and her son came around the house to
witness the scene.

Here their account differs significantly from the official
version: that Mason was uncooperative and somehow threatening to the trooper
with the taser, as Mason was moving forward up a slight incline with a clenched
fist. Davidonis and other family members say Mason was not
threatening, that his hands were raised, that they warned police that the taser
could kill him.

The trooper fired the taser, Mason dropped to the ground not
breathing, police and rescue workers were unable to revive him, and he was dead
on arrival at the hospital. The
trooper who fired the taser had not completed his taser training.

The matter is under internal investigation and results have
not yet been made public. Results of the June 21 autopsy are also
not yet public.

Governor Rejects Suspension of Taser Use

The first formal call for a moratorium on police use of
tasers in Vermont came on June 27, a week after Mason's death, when the Vermont
chapters of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the American Civil
Liberties Union, and Legal Aid's Mental Health Law Project joined in a call for
police to refrain from using tasers at least until the state implements a
coherent policy on taser use and all Vermont police officers are trained not
only in taser use, but in dealing with people who are disabled or have
emotional or mental problems.

While the Vermont Department of Public Safety "appreciates
the concerns expressed about the use of tasers," according to a June 27 press
release, it did not put a moratorium in place. Rather, the department promised "to gather data and
thoroughly evaluate the incident to enable the department to make meaningful
decisions regarding the continued use of tasers."

Also on June 27, Gov. Shumlin and Attorney General William
Sorrell held a joint, 13-minute press conference to reject a moratorium,
although Shumlin's answer suggested he hadn't grasped the difference between a
ban and a moratorium: "" the
notion that we stop using tasers in Vermont, I think, would result in police
officers having to use bullets more than taser shots."

Shumlin seemed not to understand what had happened to Mason,
telling reporters: "This is what I want to say -- you go out there -- as a law
enforcement officer -- and have someone threaten to kill you, threaten to kill
other people, and then second guess every move that they make when they make
them -- I don't think that's appropriate."

Pressed by reporters, Shumlin admitted he didn't know the
circumstances of Mason's death:
"You seem to know more than I do".
You have facts I don't have. "

Siding with the Governor, the Attorney General noted that:
"Tasers are lethal weapons, they're obviously less lethal than firearms." And, he added, "The police can't
pre-ordain the optimal situation for discharge." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKF2Z8j-_nc

Petition for Taser Moratorium

Two days later, on June 29, Morgan Brown of Montpelier
posted an online petition for a taser moratorium on the petition site
signon.org --

"The undersigned
petitioners urge Governor Peter Shumlin to call for an immediate moratorium on
the use of Tasers by the Vermont State Police as well as all other law
enforcement agencies across the state. This moratorium should remain in place
until standardized statewide policies are put into practice that will reduce
the risks posed by the use of Tasers, as well as, until all officers across the
state whom are armed with Tasers receive standardized, state-approved, training
in the use of Tasers, including more extensive, standardized, state-wide and
state-approved training for dealing with people in a mental health crisis than
is already currently available to police officers." http://signon.org/sign/call-for-moratorium-on

A sampling of some of the first 1,000 signers and their
comments:

#946, Theresa Davidonis, Thetford Center: I watched MacAdam Mason, my love, die
instantly from being shot in the chest at 5 ft with the taser after the police
were told many times about his seizure condition.

#939, Ben Peberdy, White River Junction: Governor Shumlin needs to understand
that there is a growing "trigger-happy" culture of taser abuse within
the Vermont police community and that this has resulted in wrongful deaths. We
need a comprehensive approach to taser policy to ensure that they are used in a
reasonable, acceptable manner. Ignoring the problem is only going to make
things worse.

#849, Jonathan Crowell, Williamsville: I was tased during a non-violent
protest by the Brattleboro Police Department- OUCH! I believe this was a form
of torture.

#840, Walter Wallace, Springfield: Stop the slide of our beloved Vermont into a model
Police State. The State Police are totally out of control (from excessive use
of force such as this tasing incident to falsifying time sheets) and must be
reined in immediately.

#770, Audrey
Famette, Montpelier: After
extensive discussion concerning purchasing tasers in Montpelier, we voted not
to purchase. If police departments find they have some extra money it would be
better spent for additional de-escalation training for police officers.

#698, Johanna Robohm, Jacksonville: This incident" brought back immediate
memories of a similar incident in Brattleboro over a decade ago, I believe,
where officers shot and killed a mentally disturbed person in a church.

#418, Nicholas Marchese, West Dummerston: Really? Another VT police execution of
an unarmed person suffering a psycological crisis? Way too eager to use
excessive force!!!!!!

#363, Carl Aronson, Randolph: As a retired Police Veteran, I never used Tasers and I
don't think they are needed. Officers must first use person to person
communication not just orders, If force is needed mace and controlled take-down
force protecting the subject. Policing is about protecting. Protecting the
lives, property, and the rights of everyone. I always defused my situations in
a way that the next day I could stand by this person with dignity and honor.

#266, Thomas Zabski, Burlington: They used cattle prods on
non-caucasions in Alabama 50 some odd years ago. One would think the American
Disabilities Act would weigh in on this kind of thing.

Vermonter living in Woodstock:
elected to five terms (served 20 years) as side judge (sitting in Superior, Family, and Small Claims Courts);
public radio producer, "The Panther Program" -- nationally distributed, three albums (at CD Baby), some (more...)